Japanese working on 33 megapixel Super Hi-Vision TV

The Japanese government will begin a joint project with private companies to develop technology for next-generation ultra high-definition video, a daily newspaper report said Monday.

The communications ministry also aims to begin broadcasting with the Japanese system in 2015 and make it standard technology internationally, the Yomiuri Shimbun said without citing sources.

The technology, to be called "Super Hi-Vision", could show images of about 33 million pixels, 16 times more than the present Hi-Vision technology, a high-definition TV technology developed by public broadcaster NHK, it said.

The ministry was expected to spend 300 million yen (2.7 million dollars) on start-up research starting from the fiscal year in April, it said.

No comment on the report was available from the ministry on Monday, a public holiday in Japan.